Orlando City winger Facundo Torres could become a ‘fans’ favourite’ at Arsenal if he swaps the MLS for a new challenge in the Premier League, South American football expert Tim Vickery tells talkSPORT (1 November, 3pm).
You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. As Bukayo Saka limped off during the first half of Arsenal’s 5-0 shellacking of Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, it felt like a realisation of all Mikel Arteta’s worst fears.
The England international had started every single one of the Gunners’ 12 Premier League games. No one has scored more goals, no one has provided more assists, and arguably no one is quite so important to Arsenal’s top-four hopes.
Saka’s injury – albeit not quite as serious as first feared, it seems – feels like something of a wake-up call. Reiss Nelson might have stepped into his shoes quite brilliantly against Forest (scoring more league goals in three minutes than across his previous 23 appearances put together) but Arsenal are leaving nothing for chance, The Standard claiming that plans are now in place to bring in some much-needed support for their talismanic number seven during the January transfer window.
And this is where Facundo Torres comes in.
Can Facundo Torres compete with Bukayo Saka at Arsenal?
“He’s good,” Vickery explains of a 22-year-old who joined Orlando City in a £7 million deal from Uruguayan outfit Penarol. “Torres is a little playmaker. Very, very good one-v-one. The ball is tied to his feet. There is a swagger and a style (about him).
“I like him very much.”
Per Goal, the Uruguay international is ‘very keen’ on a move to Arsenal. Scout Toni Lima – a man renowned for discovering a teenage Neymar – has been watching Torres on behalf of the Gunners too is due to hold talks with the Montevideo-born forward later this week.
Torres has 13 goals and 10 assists for Orlando City this season. And Vickery believes that, while it could take some time, the lessons Torres has learned in Major League Soccer bode well for a potential future on the other side of the Atlantic.
“The Premier League will come as culture shock,” Vickery adds. “But the MLS is much quicker than the South American domestic leagues, so he’s in a halfway house there.
“If he can hit the ground running, he’ll be a fans favourite. But I suspect that, if he does make the move, it will take him a bit of time to adapt.”
Torres, interestingly, scored against Arsenal in pre-season.
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